Fabergé Winter Egg sells for $30.2M, smashing auction record

The Winter Egg, a crystal Fabergé egg adorned with platinum snowflakes and 4,500 rose-cut diamonds, sold for $30.2 million at Christie’s London on Tuesday, setting a new world auction record for the renowned Russian jeweler’s work.nytimes

Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II in 1913 as an Easter gift for his mother and designed by Alma Pihl, the egg is one of only seven Imperial Easter Eggs remaining in private collections out of 50 created between 1885 and 1916.nytimes

The sale price, achieved after a three-minute bidding war, reflects the extreme scarcity of Imperial Eggs and marks the third time the Winter Egg has broken auction records, having previously sold for $5.6 million in 1994 and $9.6 million in 2002.cnn

Fabergé Winter Egg Shatters Auction Record at $30.2 Million

A crystal Fabergé egg commissioned by Russia’s last tsar sold for £22.9 million ($30.2 million) at Christie’s London on Tuesday, breaking the world record for the renowned jeweler’s work and underscoring the extreme scarcity of Imperial Easter Eggs still available to private collectors.nytimes

The Winter Egg, created in 1913 as an Easter gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, drew fierce bidding during a three-minute auction battle before going to an anonymous buyer. The sale price surpassed Christie’s estimate of £20 million ($26 million) and more than doubled the previous record of £8.9 million ($18.5 million) set in 2007 by the Rothschild Egg.cnn

Third Record for Winter Egg

This marks the third time the Winter Egg has set an auction record for Fabergé, having previously sold for 7.2 million Swiss francs ($5.6 million) at Christie’s Geneva in 1994 and $9.6 million at Christie’s New York in 2002. “Today’s result sets a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé, reaffirming the enduring significance of this masterpiece,” said Margo Oganesian, head of Christie’s Fabergé and Russian Works of Art department.cnn

Rarity Drives Value

Of the 50 Imperial Easter Eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé’s firm between 1885 and 1916, only 43 are known to survive, with just seven remaining in private hands. The rest are either lost or held by museums and institutions worldwide.cnn

The 10-centimeter egg is carved from rock crystal and adorned with platinum snowflakes set with 4,500 rose-cut diamonds. Its design, created by Alma Theresia Pihl—one of only two female designers to work on Imperial Eggs—was reportedly inspired by ice crystals forming on her workshop window. Inside, it contains one of Fabergé’s signature “surprises”: a platinum basket filled with white quartz wood anemones with gold stems and demantoid garnet centers.bbc

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Bolshevik government sold the egg to raise funds. London dealer Wartski acquired it in the late 1920s for just £450. The egg was considered lost for two decades before resurfacing in 1994.phys

Nicholas II originally paid 24,600 rubles for the piece, the third-highest price Fabergé ever charged for an Imperial Egg, according to invoices released by Christie’s.cnn